I believe that the purpose of education is to prepare young people to enter the world and become contributing citizens. The teacher's job is to make sure that all of his/her students are properly equipped with the critical thinking skills necessary to succeed in life. A teacher must be engaging in order to ensure his/her students are learning. A teacher must be knowledgeable in their content area and must be able to convey that knowledge to his/her students. I believe that the best way to teach students is through differentiated lesson plans. A teacher standing in front of a class and lecturing day after day does not hold the students' attention. It is more effective to keep students active and engaged through activities, group discussions and projects. A teacher who understands how to convey their knowledge and passion for the content to his/her students is an effective teacher. This requires good communication skills and knowledge and understanding of all students. With all of these components, a teacher can help all students learn. By successfully educating every student, the teacher fulfills his/her duty to prepare the students with the necessary skills to be good citizens.
Framework:
Ever had this feeling before?... Check out my framework for successful classroom management!
1. Professional Practice - It is important for a teacher to behave in a professional manner. A teacher is a role model to students and needs to set a good example. This includes behavior in school and outside of school.
1a. Planning and Preparation - In order for a teacher to act professionally in the classroom, they must always be adequately prepared. This means that all lessons and assignments must be planned out extensively in advance.
2. Engagement and Enjoyment - In order for students to learn most effectively, there needs to be a relaxed learning environment. In a relaxed learning environment students feel more comfortable to be engaged in the material and enjoy what they are studying.
2a. Relaxed Learning Environment - This is an classroom culture in which students feel comfortable asking questions and participating in discussions. Students should not feel intimidated by their teacher.
3. Classroom Management - While a relaxed learning environment is important for student learning, classroom management is also important. The classroom needs to have organized structure so that students know what is expected of them.
3a. Rules - These are important so students will not know what is considered acceptable or unacceptable in all aspects of the class. Well defined rules also hold students responsible when their behavior or work is unacceptable.
4. Culture of Thinking - There needs to be a culture of thinking in the classroom so that students understand that it is a place where learning happens. When students enter the classroom they need to be challenged to think critically and expand their knowledge.
4a. Higher Level Thinking - Students will be required to ask questions from the higher levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. Evaluation and synthesis of information will be the goal, not simple recall of facts.
5. Knowledge of Students and Student Learning - Teachers must get to know their students. A teacher's job is not only to communicate information to their students, but to also be able to recognize when students are understanding the material and when they are not. This understanding of student knowledge allows teachers to go back and re-teach to maximize student learning.
5a. Understanding Cognitive Development - Teachers must understand Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development. Students can learn more with assistance than they can learn on their own. However, pushing them too far will cause them to shut down and learn nothing.
6. Knowledge of Content and Instructional Practice - Teachers must be knowledgeable in their subject area. They must have a working understanding of the topics they teach and know how to locate information they do not know. It is also important that teachers know strategies for communicating their subject's content so that the students understand it.
6a. Differentiating Instruction - In order to help all students learn the material, teachers must be able to present the information in a variety of ways. Teachers can vary content, process, or product.
7. Applying Student Learning - While learning content is important, students must also gain the ability to look critically at situations and analyze problems. These skills must be developed while learning content and then applied to real world issues so that students understand their importance.
7a. Debate and Discussion - In order to analyze and evaluate information, classroom debate and discussion must be utilized. By examining sources together, students can see multiple perspectives.
8. Assessing Student Learning - In order for a teacher to know if they have been effective in communicating knowledge, they must assess their students. Assessment does not always have to be graded, but it must be done so that teachers can see where their students lack understanding.
8a. Formative and Summative Assessment - Formative assessment must be done each class period so that teachers can tell each day how their students are comprehending the material. This does not need to be a formal assessment or graded. Summative assessment occurs after longer periods of time, tests overall understanding, and is graded.
Modifications:
After reviewing my framework, I decided to add subcategories. These subcategories expand upon the larger categories. I also edited some of the titles of my categories. Where some of the titles were bulky, I took out portions and added the other portion as a subcategory. I did this for the Classroom Management portion. It was originally called Rules, Organization and Procedure. However, I thought these things fit better under the category of Classroom Management with Rules as a subcategory. I did the same type of thing in my Professional Practice, and Engagement and Enjoyment sections. I added a section specifically about Differentiated Instruction under my section about Instructional Practice because it is an important Instructional Practice that I felt was key. I also added a section about Debate and Discussion under Applying Student Learning. I think that these are key for understanding multiple perspectives in history. I also added sections about Higher Level Thinking and Understanding Cognitive Development that we learned in this class. I thought those were some of the most important things we've learned so far. I specified Assessing Student Learning by adding a section about Formative and Summative Assessment. We have been learning about these a lot in our Methods class and Instructional Strategies class.
Since I would like to be a social teacher, I decided to find an image for my framework that would relate. There are 8 categories to my framework and there are 8 columns on the front side of the Parthenon.
Philosophy of Education
I believe that the purpose of education is to prepare young people to enter the world and become contributing citizens. The teacher's job is to make sure that all of his/her students are properly equipped with the critical thinking skills necessary to succeed in life. A teacher must be engaging in order to ensure his/her students are learning. A teacher must be knowledgeable in their content area and must be able to convey that knowledge to his/her students. I believe that the best way to teach students is through differentiated lesson plans. A teacher standing in front of a class and lecturing day after day does not hold the students' attention. It is more effective to keep students active and engaged through activities, group discussions and projects. A teacher who understands how to convey their knowledge and passion for the content to his/her students is an effective teacher. This requires good communication skills and knowledge and understanding of all students. With all of these components, a teacher can help all students learn. By successfully educating every student, the teacher fulfills his/her duty to prepare the students with the necessary skills to be good citizens.
Framework:
Ever had this feeling before?... Check out my framework for successful classroom management!
1. Professional Practice - It is important for a teacher to behave in a professional manner. A teacher is a role model to students and needs to set a good example. This includes behavior in school and outside of school.
1a. Planning and Preparation - In order for a teacher to act professionally in the classroom, they must always be adequately prepared. This means that all lessons and assignments must be planned out extensively in advance.
2. Engagement and Enjoyment - In order for students to learn most effectively, there needs to be a relaxed learning environment. In a relaxed learning environment students feel more comfortable to be engaged in the material and enjoy what they are studying.
2a. Relaxed Learning Environment - This is an classroom culture in which students feel comfortable asking questions and participating in discussions. Students should not feel intimidated by their teacher.
3. Classroom Management - While a relaxed learning environment is important for student learning, classroom management is also important. The classroom needs to have organized structure so that students know what is expected of them.
3a. Rules - These are important so students will not know what is considered acceptable or unacceptable in all aspects of the class. Well defined rules also hold students responsible when their behavior or work is unacceptable.
4. Culture of Thinking - There needs to be a culture of thinking in the classroom so that students understand that it is a place where learning happens. When students enter the classroom they need to be challenged to think critically and expand their knowledge.
4a. Higher Level Thinking - Students will be required to ask questions from the higher levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. Evaluation and synthesis of information will be the goal, not simple recall of facts.
5. Knowledge of Students and Student Learning - Teachers must get to know their students. A teacher's job is not only to communicate information to their students, but to also be able to recognize when students are understanding the material and when they are not. This understanding of student knowledge allows teachers to go back and re-teach to maximize student learning.
5a. Understanding Cognitive Development - Teachers must understand Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development. Students can learn more with assistance than they can learn on their own. However, pushing them too far will cause them to shut down and learn nothing.
6. Knowledge of Content and Instructional Practice - Teachers must be knowledgeable in their subject area. They must have a working understanding of the topics they teach and know how to locate information they do not know. It is also important that teachers know strategies for communicating their subject's content so that the students understand it.
6a. Differentiating Instruction - In order to help all students learn the material, teachers must be able to present the information in a variety of ways. Teachers can vary content, process, or product.
7. Applying Student Learning - While learning content is important, students must also gain the ability to look critically at situations and analyze problems. These skills must be developed while learning content and then applied to real world issues so that students understand their importance.
7a. Debate and Discussion - In order to analyze and evaluate information, classroom debate and discussion must be utilized. By examining sources together, students can see multiple perspectives.
8. Assessing Student Learning - In order for a teacher to know if they have been effective in communicating knowledge, they must assess their students. Assessment does not always have to be graded, but it must be done so that teachers can see where their students lack understanding.
8a. Formative and Summative Assessment - Formative assessment must be done each class period so that teachers can tell each day how their students are comprehending the material. This does not need to be a formal assessment or graded. Summative assessment occurs after longer periods of time, tests overall understanding, and is graded.
Modifications:
After reviewing my framework, I decided to add subcategories. These subcategories expand upon the larger categories. I also edited some of the titles of my categories. Where some of the titles were bulky, I took out portions and added the other portion as a subcategory. I did this for the Classroom Management portion. It was originally called Rules, Organization and Procedure. However, I thought these things fit better under the category of Classroom Management with Rules as a subcategory. I did the same type of thing in my Professional Practice, and Engagement and Enjoyment sections. I added a section specifically about Differentiated Instruction under my section about Instructional Practice because it is an important Instructional Practice that I felt was key. I also added a section about Debate and Discussion under Applying Student Learning. I think that these are key for understanding multiple perspectives in history. I also added sections about Higher Level Thinking and Understanding Cognitive Development that we learned in this class. I thought those were some of the most important things we've learned so far. I specified Assessing Student Learning by adding a section about Formative and Summative Assessment. We have been learning about these a lot in our Methods class and Instructional Strategies class.
Since I would like to be a social teacher, I decided to find an image for my framework that would relate. There are 8 categories to my framework and there are 8 columns on the front side of the Parthenon.